What do you think?
Rate this book
Dancing Gods #4
Songs of the Dancing Gods
Joe has reunited with his son, who has accompanied Joe to Husaquahr. But their joy at being united is cut short by news that the Dark Baron has escaped once again and is gathering a force in the North to capture and enslave them all. *** Can Joe and Tiana (and Irving) make another stand for their new world or is the Dark Baron finally going to vanquish Husaquahr?
322 pages, Paperback
First published July 14, 1990
10 people are currently reading
278 people want to read
About the author
Jack L. Chalker
132 books359 followersBesides being a science fiction author, Jack Laurence Chalker was a Baltimore City Schools history teacher in Maryland for a time, a member of the Washington Science Fiction Association, and was involved in the founding of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society. Some of his books said that he was born in Norfolk, Virginia although he later claimed that was a mistake.
He attended all but one of the World Science Fiction Conventions from 1965 until 2004. He published an amateur SF journal, Mirage, from 1960 to 1971 (a Hugo nominee in 1963 for Best Fanzine).
Chalker was married in 1978 and had two sons.
His stated hobbies included esoteric audio, travel, and working on science-fiction convention committees. He had a great interest in ferryboats, and, at his wife's suggestion, their marriage was performed on the Roaring Bull Ferry.
Chalker's awards included the Daedalus Award (1983), The Gold Medal of the West Coast Review of Books (1984), Skylark Award (1985), Hamilton-Brackett Memorial Award (1979), as well as others of varying prestige. He was a nominee for the John W. Campbell Award twice and for the Hugo Award twice. He was posthumously awarded the Phoenix Award by the Southern Fandom Confederation on April 9, 2005.
On September 18, 2003, during Hurricane Isabel, Chalker passed out and was rushed to the hospital with a diagnosis of a heart attack. He was later released, but was severely weakened. On December 6, 2004, he was again rushed to hospital with breathing problems and disorientation, and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and a collapsed lung. Chalker was hospitalized in critical condition, then upgraded to stable on December 9, though he didn't regain consciousness until December 15. After several more weeks in deteriorating condition and in a persistent vegetative state, with several transfers to different hospitals, he died on February 11, 2005 of kidney failure and sepsis in Bon Secours of Baltimore, Maryland.
Chalker is perhaps best known for his Well World series of novels, the first of which is Midnight at the Well of Souls (Well World, #1).
He attended all but one of the World Science Fiction Conventions from 1965 until 2004. He published an amateur SF journal, Mirage, from 1960 to 1971 (a Hugo nominee in 1963 for Best Fanzine).
Chalker was married in 1978 and had two sons.
His stated hobbies included esoteric audio, travel, and working on science-fiction convention committees. He had a great interest in ferryboats, and, at his wife's suggestion, their marriage was performed on the Roaring Bull Ferry.
Chalker's awards included the Daedalus Award (1983), The Gold Medal of the West Coast Review of Books (1984), Skylark Award (1985), Hamilton-Brackett Memorial Award (1979), as well as others of varying prestige. He was a nominee for the John W. Campbell Award twice and for the Hugo Award twice. He was posthumously awarded the Phoenix Award by the Southern Fandom Confederation on April 9, 2005.
On September 18, 2003, during Hurricane Isabel, Chalker passed out and was rushed to the hospital with a diagnosis of a heart attack. He was later released, but was severely weakened. On December 6, 2004, he was again rushed to hospital with breathing problems and disorientation, and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and a collapsed lung. Chalker was hospitalized in critical condition, then upgraded to stable on December 9, though he didn't regain consciousness until December 15. After several more weeks in deteriorating condition and in a persistent vegetative state, with several transfers to different hospitals, he died on February 11, 2005 of kidney failure and sepsis in Bon Secours of Baltimore, Maryland.
Chalker is perhaps best known for his Well World series of novels, the first of which is Midnight at the Well of Souls (Well World, #1).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 16, 2021
After five years, Chalker returned to the Dancing Gods with this installment. Joe and Tiana, albeit in new bodies (Joe as himself @20 thanks to the magic lamp, while Tiana as an exotic dancer) take Joe's rescued son Irving on a slow tour of Husaquanhr before arriving at Ruddygore's place. Macore returns for Earth as well, only with a complete fixation on Gilligan's Island; he manged to bring a battery powered TV and VHS to watch all the episodes! If you never watched Gilligan's Island, you will miss out on several 'in-jokes' here, so beware. Marge is off doing her Fairy things as well. When Joe arrives at Ruddyogore's castle, however, he is told that the Baron escaped and once again teamed up with an evil wizard, who leads an army of zombies. It seems once again our heroes will have to stop them, in perhaps their biggest challenge yet...
Maybe is it just me having read these in a row, but this series really seemed to drag on this one. The ever changing bodies/souls felt a little tired this time, and even the farcical elements, while still humorous, started to feel a little old as well. Not sure why Chalker felt he had to return to this series as it was pretty wrapped up with the third volume; maybe he just felt the need for some more snark and farce. Maybe it is just that the novelty of the entire idea is a little played out at this point, but it was a bit of drag for me to get through this one. 2.5 stars, rounding up.
Maybe is it just me having read these in a row, but this series really seemed to drag on this one. The ever changing bodies/souls felt a little tired this time, and even the farcical elements, while still humorous, started to feel a little old as well. Not sure why Chalker felt he had to return to this series as it was pretty wrapped up with the third volume; maybe he just felt the need for some more snark and farce. Maybe it is just that the novelty of the entire idea is a little played out at this point, but it was a bit of drag for me to get through this one. 2.5 stars, rounding up.
May 2, 2023
On to reviewing book 4 in The Dancing Gods series!
I liked this book but I can't help but feel that Marge is being marginalized!!! She is my favorite character and if she keeps getting marginalized, I will stop reading.
Joe and Marge are back in Husaquahr again. Most of the book deals with Joe, Tiana, and Irving (Joe's son whom he brought back from Earth). This time the enemy is (again) The Dark Baron! He plans on taking over and ruling the entire area. So, Ruddygore sends out Joe, Marge, and Tiana. Along the way both Joe and Tiana turn into their were creature which happens to be Marge.
The story is well-written, the fight scenes are fun without blood and guts galore, and the characters are well-developed and entertaining. Unfortunately, Irving annoys me because he thinks he knows everything (and is written as knowing everything even when he knows nothing about what is going on). Now that Joe has Tiana, he doesn't need Marge anymore (or so it seems to me). So Marge had better get her own lovebug/man!!!!
Other than the marginalization I enjoyed this book. The fantasy and magic are great and you can almost see the pictures in your head as you read. The magic is a bit subtle and not the "Bam, Boom, Fireball Type" which is nice but when the big magic comes out to play, that's when I wake up and pay attention! :)
I liked this book but I can't help but feel that Marge is being marginalized!!! She is my favorite character and if she keeps getting marginalized, I will stop reading.
Joe and Marge are back in Husaquahr again. Most of the book deals with Joe, Tiana, and Irving (Joe's son whom he brought back from Earth). This time the enemy is (again) The Dark Baron! He plans on taking over and ruling the entire area. So, Ruddygore sends out Joe, Marge, and Tiana. Along the way both Joe and Tiana turn into their were creature which happens to be Marge.
The story is well-written, the fight scenes are fun without blood and guts galore, and the characters are well-developed and entertaining. Unfortunately, Irving annoys me because he thinks he knows everything (and is written as knowing everything even when he knows nothing about what is going on). Now that Joe has Tiana, he doesn't need Marge anymore (or so it seems to me). So Marge had better get her own lovebug/man!!!!
Other than the marginalization I enjoyed this book. The fantasy and magic are great and you can almost see the pictures in your head as you read. The magic is a bit subtle and not the "Bam, Boom, Fireball Type" which is nice but when the big magic comes out to play, that's when I wake up and pay attention! :)
September 8, 2020
I found myself enjoying this one much more than the previous book on the series, but the whole gender-bender thing here isn’t my cup of tee seriously I could have done without half of it. Even so I see a complete improvement in the series as a whole even if I am not satisfied with the ending.
January 1, 2026
Enjoyed this book, kept me reading
January 14, 2008
I actually found this book to be rather re-readable. I haven't read the preceding books, however this book appears to take itself lightly enough that from time to time I do pick it up and reread it for the fun of it.
May 5, 2010
See "River of the Dancing Gods".
November 7, 2014
I loved the dancing gods series but did not enjoy this addition as much as the first three. It seemed a bit of an after thought.
June 7, 2021
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews